Now more than ever, audiences demand accountability, transparency, equity, honesty, and integrity from the media. A new set of standards are required for our modern digital world. To that end, GeeksModo writers and editors live by a strict code of ethics, with a single goal: to provide the highest caliber of journalism, with true transparency and accountability, and a broad array of voices and perspectives to truly reflect the diverse digital world we inhabit today.
Editorial Independence
Audiences demand honesty and integrity from GeeksModo and its content. To maintain our independence and uphold trust, editorial staffers and freelancers cannot accept compensation of any kind in exchange for a review, news coverage, or inclusion in an article or video.
To further ensure our voice and the integrity of our reviews, the editorial team maintains independence from other departments and will only cover stories and products that meet the needs of our audience. Communication between sales and editorial is important to the business, however, and is facilitated by the Editor-in-Chief.
Plagiarism
Fabrication of any extent is unacceptable. It violates the trust of our audience. Plagiarism occurs when a portion of text is cut and pasted from another article, without citing where the text originally came from. It is not acceptable to merely make minor modifications to another publication’s wording or to duplicate its story structure. We will make every effort to ensure that our editorial staff gathers and verifies every piece of information included on the site, and our writers produce stories with original phrasing and structure and with additional information and context. Where we cannot verify someone else’s reporting, we will clearly link back to the original source.
Professional Conduct
We treat news sources, contacts, and media relations professionals with the same courtesy and respect GeeksModo shows to its audience. To that end, writers and editors must always present themselves honestly, never using deception or pretense to obtain information and always being transparent about who they are and what they do.
That respect is embodied in our appearance: GeeksModo staff members carry themselves appropriately, with dress and language that fits a professional setting. Coarse language, vulgarity, sexism, racism, and so on are explicitly banned in our content and in our day-to-day interactions, including on social media.
Commerce Content
Commerce-related content – deals, sales, and more – aims to recommend products that meet the needs and quality expectations of our audience. To maintain independence, this content is created by a separate team at GeeksModo, which works closely with the editorial team to identify important products that meet both team’s needs and seeks guidance from our product reviewers when possible.
The Commerce team determines which e-commerce sites to include in links and buttons based on where our readers are most confident shopping and who has the best price and product availability, taking into account performance and partnership opportunities.
Wherever relevant, such content is clearly marked with a disclaimer: “GeeksModo may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.”
Sponsored Content
Sometimes, a brand will underwrite existing or ongoing editorial coverage, but they cannot influence the content itself or interfere with its editorial integrity, which should represent the needs of our audience. Only existing planned editorial coverage is available to be sponsored.
When content is sponsored, a brand’s media (ads and logo) will surround the content, and it is clearly marked as “sponsored by” the applicable brand. Sponsored coverage can include events such as CES, topics like computing or telecommunications, and special series or features, for example.